'Esther' oil painting by Jane Bennett framed in a dark wood box frame.

Dimensions: 30 x 30 cm

Material: Oil on canvas

Jane lives and works in the Brecon Beacons. Having studied art at Leicester College of Education, Cardiff College of Art, she more recently completed an MAFA at Swansea College of Art. She has exhibited in galleries in South and West Wales and at The Stratford Gallery in the Cotswolds.

The landscape paintings are inspired by the ever changing hills and skies of the Beacons- the wind, the rain, the air and the light -aiming to capture a sense of drama and place rather than a faithfully reproduced view.

The starting point for the portraits are found photographs. She finds it hard to define what it is that attracts her to a particular discarded photo, perhaps a look or a gesture. The individual may be removed from the original photograph, the background altered or pared down, their clothing and hairstyles reworked. In this way, by changing the cultural signifiers, their identity can be disguised or enhanced giving these discarded people a new identity and new life.

Jane Bennett

'Esther' Oil on Canvas, Framed